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Saturday, July 12, 2014

The book is big jigsaw puzzle with different pieces falling in place at different points of time. As the book moves on, you feel the pieces falling in place and you can see the full picture. It is a story of Henry DeTamble who could time travel due to genetic disorder. It is also the story of Clare who first meets 40 year old Henry at the age of 6, falls in love with him and wait for Henry to appear from the future all her childhood and teen life. With Henry keeping pursed lips about the future and about himself, little Clare is left with her imagination to understand a mysteriously but endearing figure appearing in her meadow.

The most endearing part of the book was Henry talking about his multiple visits to the time when his mother died and seeing his younger self escape just because of time travel. The characters are beautifully etched and you feel that you ought not to leave them even if it means reaching work late. After a certain time, you feel the book itself is time travelling. All this points to a meticulously thought and brilliantly written book.

It is a must-read and the best about it is you can pick it up and read the book from anywhere and it would still make sense due to jigsaw nature of the book. And yeah there is a movie adapted from the book. However, reading the book makes you feel that you are part of the action rather than a mere spectator to the action. I will be watching the movie soon though to reminiscence my reading experience.